Tank Crew, Winter 1944-45 Impression

It is the winter of 1944 to 1945 and Europe is suffering from one of the harshest winters in many years. This crewman from a Cromwell tank is grateful for the issue of a padded tank crew suit, commonly known as a ‘pixie suit’ that he has donned over his battledress. This suit is a complete set of overalls with large zips down the front to allow it to be easily taken on and off. An internal webbing harness allows a man to be more easily dragged from the hull of a damaged tank. Over the tank suit he is wearing a simple set of webbing and shoulder braces to support his revolver in its holster. This set up of webbing is more unusual, with many just using the belt alone, however it was not unheard of and images do show it being used. The revolver itself is the spurless Enfield No 2 revolver, albeit manufactured by Albion rather than Enfield. This is a six shot .380 calibre revolver that can only be fired in double action. On his head he wears the large black Armoured Corps beret, with the badge of the Royal Tank Regiment. A pair of tinted goggles are pushed up on top of the beret. These can quickly be pulled down to keep dust churned up by the tank out of his eyes. In a quiet moment he checks his revolver is clean and working correctly, hopefully he will never have to use it in anger